I don’t know everything. (I know, take a moment and sit down while you ponder this astonishing fact.) My staff doesn’t know everything, either. But put us together, and we can accomplish some amazing things.

Here’s the truth: We leaders tend to stand in our own way a lot of the time. We think we know best, we’re reluctant to muddy our vision with someone else’s ideas, and we’re afraid that if we indulge our teammates’ whims, they’ll walk all over us. But if you don’t occasionally get some brutal honesty from your staff, you’ll never innovate, improve, or become anything other than you are today. And what’s the point of that?

Getting a Wake-Up Call

The “squeaky wheel” approach has always worked wonders on me. Although it’s annoying as hell, that’s not the only thing that makes it effective. The more I hear about an idea, the more it grows on me; persistence starts to make me think there may be some merit behind a suggestion, and I simply don’t understand it yet.

My staff once deluged me with recommendations that I grow our business model and expand into areas I’d flatly rejected in the past, such as paid memberships for our free eBook site. I was hesitant to do so, but I eventually let my staff try their ideas, in case I was wrong. Yep, you guessed it: I was.

While sometimes I’ll (internally) roll my eyes at suggestions, if someone voices an idea enough times, I’ll usually let him try it out. We all have to learn and grow through our own experiments. (The key is to avoid throwing real money behind some of the more lame-brained ideas that wander across your desk.) I aim to foster an environment in which people push for progress through freethinking and innovation – and you should, too.

Why You Should Listen

If you refuse to consider the fact that others may have valid suggestions, you’re probably not giving your staff adequate ownership of their tasks – and you’re truly missing out on their expertise. Secondly, you don’t know everything, either. (Yes, take another moment and ponder this. I’ll wait.)